I need your help. I’m working on putting together snippets of the projects I’ve been working on, so I can have YOU vote for what you’d like to read (hopefully it’s a Willow Aster book) next! I hope to have this ready soon, and I hope that when I put it up, you’ll vote and help spread the word! I’d like to get as many votes as possible, so I know what people are excited about reading these days. And if you need something to read in the meantime, don’t forget to check out In the Fields! ;) I am loving the feedback I’m getting about the book. Makes my day when I hear back from you or when I read a review on Amazon that lets me know it’s resonating. Means so much! So watch for the upcoming vote post…trying to decide whether to offer two choices or four…
Hot Buttered Rum
Tried this recipe for Hot Buttered Rum from Emeril the other night. Delicious…and perfect for these blistery fall evenings.
If it’s not blistery where you are, I’m jealous. Anyway. Try it.
Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves
Pinch salt Bottle dark rum (I like Captain Morgain private stock)
Boiling water
Directions
In a bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Refrigerate until almost firm. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the butter mixture into 12 small mugs. Pour about 3 ounces of rum into each mug (filling about halfway). Top with boiling water (to fill the remaining half), stir well, and serve immediately.
Look at the new cover for In the Fields! I’m loving it. I think the picture says so much. If you haven’t read the book yet, I hope you’ll give it a try. And then please leave a review on Amazon, if you don’t mind. It makes a huge difference!
Blog Tour Stops!
I can’t believe this day is finally here. In the Fields is OUT! Thank you The Indie Bookshelf for hosting my blog tour! I love you ladies over there! I’ll keep the stops up on my website. I can’t even express how grateful I am to all of the bloggers for being part of this blog tour! Thank you! The ones who have interacted with me during the reading process~I just love that. It means so much that you care about my characters and stories. So, here we go!
Tuesday, Sept. 10th:
Wednesday, Sept. 11th:
The Hopeless Romantics Book Blog
Thursday, Sept. 12th:
Reality Bites! Let’s Get Lost!
The Little Black Book Bloggers
Group Therapy Book Club Blog & Review
Friday, Sept. 13th:
Saturday, Sept. 14th:
Sunday, Sept. 15th:
Monday, Sept. 16th:
Two Days (Insert giddy dance here)
Only five more days until In the Fields comes out! xo
Blurred Lines
In the Fields
In the Fields is available as an ebook from Amazon or in paperback from CreateSpace.
What people are saying at GoodReads.
Background 1971—In the tiny, backward town of Tulma, Tennessee, optimistic, bookish Caroline Carson unwittingly finds herself in the middle of a forbidden romance. Severely neglected by her family and forced to flee Tulma to protect her secrets, Caroline’s young life comes crashing down around her. She finds refuge in a new town, but the past always has a way of stretching around time and stirring up trouble. When a new love comes into her life, she has to decide if she can give her heart to someone else, or if she will always be tied to someone she can’t have. Willow Aster is the author of True Love Story and In the Fields, and many more to come. She loves her crazy life with her husband and kids.
‘Round the Corner!
Giddy
I got giddy this morning when I realized that my new book, In the Fields will be coming out in just three and a half weeks! September 10th! This project has been a labor of love for me. I started it long before True Love Story. YEARS before. It was before I ever read The Secret Life of Bees and before The Help came out. Until finding those gems, I wasn’t sure where the right fit for this book would be. I’ve still been a little befuddled on how I should label it because it’s different from those too. Is it Southern Literature? Southern Gothic? Southern Romance? A friend suggested Southern Drama and I think that sounds about right. I hope you’ll go with me on this different writing adventure. I’ll get back to some hot and steamy movie star or something, don’t worry. But this book is where my heart is and what comes naturally for me. A little jog back in time when everything seemed simpler and sweeter…but was it really?
Expected release date: 9/10/2013
Shy
So it’s like this… I’m really a shy person who functions better behind a computer screen or a pad of paper any day of the week…but put me in a room full of authors and readers, like at Book Bash a couple weeks ago, and I will try to force myself out of my shell. The good news: I love nice people. And there were loads of nice people at Book Bash. The bad news: I get splotchy and anxious. And want to hide. No matter what. The splotchy, anxious, want to hide part came as I was going down the elevator Friday night…headed down for the author meet and greet. I felt like I needed an inhaler all of a sudden. I needed about ten more layers of deodorant. I needed to step in a freezer for at least 4.2 minutes. Fortunately, everyone was so kind and perhaps dealing with their own splotchy/anxious/want to hide syndromes that I got over myself real quick. And I was able to completely enjoy the next day. There were so many people I’d hoped to meet from online messages and to see them in person was just as exciting to me as it seemed to be for them. It’s just weird to think that people would be so excited to meet a shy girl who functions better behind a computer screen or a pad of paper any day of the week…but believe me, I’m not gonna question it! I was just so grateful to be part of the whole thing. Maryse is as beautiful as I expected, inside and out. The authors were kind and the readers, oh my word, the readers…I could not love any of you any more than I already do. You have completely rocked my world and changed my life!!! I will probably be laying low the rest of the year. I will be going to NOLA next February, but I better stay close to home so I can finish these books!!! But, I look forward to the day that I can meet each and every one of you who have made such a difference in my life.
To celebrate 2,500 likes on my Facebook page, I’d like to share some of the inspiring pictures that have come from three fabulous people: Jennifer, Jodie & Belen! I’ve never had the honor of meeting these lovelies, but we have a bond now for sure. Thanks, ladies, for loving my story enough to take the time to do this!
Spring Fever Writing
So it seems that every time I start a book, three other ideas pile on top of that one. I have one at 52,460 words, one at 4,376, one at 3,900, and one at 1,567. And wouldn’t you know it, the one I feel the most passionately about is the one at 1,567 words. Well, that could change on any given day, but today, that’s the one I can’t stop thinking about. My writing has spring fever. It’s been cooped up far too long, while I’ve been doing the fun things: blog interviews, a book signing here and there, talking with nice people all over the world, shipping books, etc. It’s been truly wonderful. But when I finally settle down long enough to do the actual thing I’m supposed to be doing—writing—it’s like playing catch-up after being out sick from school for two weeks. Thoughts are ping-boom-popping all over the place and I’m rushing to catch it all. And I love every minute of it. I’ve written for years and years, done the query thing, been rejected, blah-de-blah, and I had finally settled in with being just fine if no one ever read a word. I can honestly say I was content to just keep writing for the joy it brings me. But, WOW, this world of people reading my book and actually liking it, I can’t even tell you…it’s been 3 ½ months now and I still just can’t even get over it. I’m beyond grateful, I’m humbled, I’m ecstatic, I’m in shock…well, you get the idea. I’m a basket case. So thank you. Thank you for taking it over the top for me. Okay, gotta go write. And I’ll behave and work on the 52,460 words one…
The long awaited signing is finally here! I can’t even believe it. SO excited. It’s my first time out and I’ve been just a LEETLE bit spastic today. I’m shy, y'all. My nerves are giving me fits, but the excitement is outweighing it all. I can’t wait. And look at all those other fabulous authors! I’m gonna be doing some major book shopping… If you’re anywhere near the 1,000 mile radius of Minneapolis, MN, you BETTER BE THERE! :)
Amazon.com: True Love Story eBook: Willow Aster: Kindle Store
If you’ve been waiting to buy True Love Story, now is the time! For a very limited time, it is 99 CENTS!!! Click here to purchase: http://www.amazon.com/True-Love-Story-ebook/dp/B00BHF7ULY/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1367361358&sr=8-1&keywords=true+love+story
Settled Love
Ian and Sparrow are doing well, thank you for asking. In fact, they are living high on the love right now. Nothing is better than finally being with your true love. Having been married for a while, sometimes I wish for those first days of early love—when everything felt new and exciting. The unknown played into the whole mystery of the romance. Would he stay? Did he like me as much as I liked him? Would we really make it? But there’s something about a settled love. A love that has endured time and circumstances and come out all the stronger for it. There are new joys, new excitements that are much richer than the flip-flop belly roller coaster ride that started the whole thing. It’s fun to remember those early days, but today I’m feeling content with the love I have. Enduring. Constant. Faithful. True. Even when we’re old and grey kind of love…
Giveaway!!
Dang Girl
Today an interview I did with Literati Literature Lovers went live. We had so much fun chatting back and forth. Check it out here: True Love Story Interview. But what I’m REALLY excited about is that Literati Literature Lovers is doing a Dang Girl Competition! Your heart sort of skipped a beat when you read that, didn’t it! Read all about it here: Dang Girl Competition. There will be three winners and all will receive signed paperbacks of True Love Story. I can’t wait!
Signing and W.B.T.
Just came home from the Boston book signing. I wasn’t participating as an author, but enjoyed all the fun, nonetheless. So fun to finally put some faces with the names. I love how passionate everyone is about books. I feel the exact same way. I think my first signing will be in Minneapolis in May! Really excited about this! I’ll give you more details later, but just wanted to start spreading the word now. Over on my FB Willow page, I asked how many didn’t get W.B.T. in True Love Story. I’d like to ask that on here too~ who didn’t get it? What does it mean to you?